Lubbock businessman Vernon C. Farthing III is on trial for the charges of conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He’s accused of paying bribes that were shared by ex-San Antonio lawmaker Carlos Uresti and Jimmy Galindo, a former Reeves County official. Farthing is seen with his wife, Aurora, leaving court last year.

Lubbock businessman Vernon C. Farthing III is on trial for the charges of conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He’s accused of paying bribes that were shared by ex-San

Lubbock businessman Vernon C. Farthing III is on trial for the charges of conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He’s accused of paying bribes that were shared by ex-San Antonio lawmaker Carlos Uresti and Jimmy Galindo, a former Reeves County official. Farthing is seen with his wife, Aurora, leaving court last year.

Lubbock businessman Vernon C. Farthing III is on trial for the charges of conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He’s accused of paying bribes that were shared by ex-San

A former West Texas official has agreed to plead guilty to taking bribes he allegedly split with Texas Sen. Carlos Uresti, about $850,000, while a Lubbock businessman accused of providing the money denied the charges Thursday.

Jimmy Galindo, 53, who was County Judge of Reeves County from January 1995 to December 2006, signed a plea deal in which he plans to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and failure to file tax returns. The plea deal was filed late Thursday, though his plea hearing has not been scheduled.

Neither Galindo nor his lawyer could be reached for comment late Thursday, but prosecutors agreed not to present Galindo’s case to a grand jury. Instead, he was charged by criminal information, which was filed Thursday with his plea deal. He “agrees to fully cooperate in the investigation and prosecution of any and all criminal transactions known to the defendant,” including the case against Uresti, his plea deal shows.

In exchange, the government agreed that Galindo’s sentence on each charge should run concurrently, rather than stacked. And, prosecutors will not contest that he get downward adjustments at sentencing for accepting responsibility.

In the meantime, the businessman, Vernon Farthing III, 44, turned himself in Thursday to the FBI, and filed a waiver of arraignment at his initial hearing in federal court in San Antonio. He was released on $50,000 unsecured bond. Federal prosecutors obtained an indictment Tuesday against Farthing and Uresti, charging them with conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They also obtained a separate indictment against Uresti and two other co-defendants. That indictment accuses the San Antonio legislator of fraud-related charges relating to his involvement in bankrupt San Antonio oil-field services company FourWinds Logistics.

Read the latest on the legal challenges facing Sen. Carlos Uresti on expressnews.com.